With more than 120 different labels put out by Colorado’s Weldwerks Brewing in each of the past two years, and Director of Marketing Jake Goodman indicating that more than 80% of those being new beers with new labels, the process of can design might be a tad different than larger breweries.
But it has been a successful formula for the nearly five-year-old facility.
”The process is a bit dizzying at times, but the main benefit is that it forces us to ensure that our processes and procedures are rock-solid so that nothing falls through the cracks,” he said.
WeldWerks technically contracts all the work out, but the artist Weldwerks works with has been such an integral part of what they do that Goodman said that Rachel Nedrud of Freeline Creative is considered just as much a part of the family as anyone else.
The schedule is a bit, ‘tight,’ according to Goodman.
Brews get scheduled around six to eight weeks out, followed by names and top-line info getting fleshed out, all of which gets pushed to Nedrud.
“She swings a design back in 5-7 days and it’s rushed off to ILS (Innovative Labeling Solutions) for production,” Goodman said, “then we package everything the week of release and the whole process starts over again.”
With an ongoing turnaround, marketing each product may have started as tedious, but has become a formula for success.
“Our viewpoint might be a touch different due to the volume of different offerings we put into the market each year,” Goodman admits. ”At the end of the day, we’re trying to tap into the craft beer fan’s voracious appetite for “new” by providing a constant stream of innovative and high-quality brews with a goal of getting folks to a place where they can pick up a never-before-released WeldWerks beer at their local store and feel generally confident that they’ll enjoy it.”
This of course forces Weldwerks to ensure that each brand stands on its own quality-wise because a single bad experience can erode the confidence that might have taken months or even years to build.
”Our current conversation is revolving around the need to potentially stick towards more straight-ahead descriptive names rather than continuing to dabble in those that lean towards the esoteric,” Goodman noted. “While it can be fun internally to take a more “niche” approach to branding and labels, the fact remains that we have precious little time to capture a consumer’s attention when he or she is scanning the myriad options in today’s beer cooler.
”The quicker and easier I can help them to make that decision, the better it is for everyone.”
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